Martin I Williams (Minneapolis)

For starters, I want to apologize for the blurry photo! I searched and searched for this advertisement online and this was the best I found. This print advertisement for Syngenta's Lumax herbicide, created by Minneapolis-based agency Martin I William, was targeted specifically to farmers, who have a reputation of being very tough and untrusting of advertising. Lumax was a new herbicide that needed to be sprayed only once a season, unlike other weed control products that farmers needed to spray three or more times. Martin I William's difficult task was to encourage trial use of Lumax among farmers in a specific Northern corn belt region, on a tight budget. The campaign ran in an agricultural publication called Farm Journal because Martin/Williams knew it would reach and influence Lumax's target audience. Martin I Williams defeated all odds and came up with a humerous ad that not only helped Lumax onto an impressive 2.5 million acres in its first year, but also won the agency "Best in Show" at the 8th Annual Creative Excellence in Business Advertising (CEBA) Awards. The copy of this print ad says "The beehive hairdo was "sprayed 32 times" while the cornfield was "sprayed once." It was very interesting for me to research an ad targeted to a very small/specific target group because I'm use to seeing advertisements with big target audiences such as Nike, Target, Honda, etc. I think the Martin I Williams agency did an excellent job with this print ad because it's simple, funny, and clearly makes its point. They were smart to place this ad directly into a Farming magazine because had they put it in a popular mainstream magazine they just would have wasted money.

Y&R (Chicago)

Gun-related violence is a serious issue and usually not something to be witty about, however, Young & Rubicam/Chicago does just that in its pro-bono ad campaign for the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence. Gun violence is a huge problem in Chicago that seems to have no viable solution; this is where Y&R Chicago and ICHV try to step in and remind the public that something has to be done fast! Y&R Chicago attempts to draw attention to the issue by showing innocent, playful kids in the latest spring fashion....with an extra something special, bullet-proof vests. These advertisements have been placed in over 50 bus stop stations all though out the Chicago area.

This ad in particular features a young boy under the headline "Live Boy Walking,". The copy says "Turn the local park back into a playground. This vest fits snug, while leaving arms and hands free to raise in the air for that 'don't shoot I'm innocent' stance." The rest of the copy tells that more than 150 kids have been shot this year in Chicago and more than 25 of them were shot dead. This advertisement gives me mixed emotions because it's hard to see these shocking death tolls but at the same time it makes me happy because the problem is getting attention.

Special Blog: Socially Responsible/Socially Irresponsible Ads

SOCIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE ADS:

This new E*Trade babies commercial created by Grey may seem innocent at first view, however, there is one line of dialog in the TV spot that makes it socially irresponsible. The E*TRADE baby talks to his girlfriend about the importance of building a diversified portfolio with E*TRADE's online tools but she wonders what else he's been up to in his free time and why he hasn't called her back. She asks, "And that "milkaholic" Lindsey wasns't over?" Now, don't get me wrong, I know that Lindsey Lohan has made PLENTY of mistakes and has battled with drugs, partying, and alchohol, but she is still a human being. The girl gets enough flack and jabs from the tabloids, she doesn't need it now in a National commerical. This just seems like a low blow. As a society we should be trying to better the world and treat people the way we want to be treated...this ad is socially irresponsible because they take a stab at a young girl who is clearly troubled. This commercial must have cause her and her family a lot of shame, embarrassment, and pain.


This next commercial for Altoids Sours (created by Leo Burnett Chicago) is also socially irresponsible. This commercial could be offensive to both people who support same-sex relations and those who don't support same-sex relationships. Either way, the tv spot is just plain raunchy and appropriate. The man testing the Altoids sours asks the younger boy if he can taste the fruit (in the Altoids). After saying that he can not taste the fruit, the old creepy looking man gets up, wearing underwear outside of his pants with pieces of fruit dangling from it), and moves his hips slowly and seductively right next to the boy's face. He then proceeds to say "Can you taste the fruit now?" Gay people do not appreciate being called "fruits" and this is exactly what the meaning of this commercial is.


This next commercial for Sprite created by Lowe (HQ in London) is socially irresponsible, however, I don't think they intended for it to be. When the boy's favorite WWF wrestling star shows up, he is super excited to wrestle him. The socially irresponsible part is where the wrestler throws the young child around like a rag doll and smashes his head into all sorts of hard objects. These injuries would clearly be threatening if this was reality. Even though the clever and funny tag line "Don't count on Sprite to do anything but quench your thirst" perfectly fits the theme of the commercial, this ad could potentially promote violence and child abuse. Smaller children could also see this commercial, misunderstand the tag line, and try something dangerous after drinking the beverage.


SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE ADS:

In this K-Y Yours + Mine commerical, an embarrassed looking Midwestern couple talk about K-Y Yours + Mine lubrication. When they talk about the lubricants combining a black and white clip of a couple dancing is shown. When the commercial cuts back the couple they are shown smiling and mostly under the covers of their bed. K-Y is a company, just like any other company, and they need to find a way to advertise their products without young children picking up on what they're used for and also without being too sexual. I believe Mother (HQ in London) did an excellent job with this commerical because if a young child sees it, he/she will not understand that the product is used for sex. The commerical does not once even mention the word "sex". The couple sits in the bed (something mommy & daddy do at night time) and instead of showing any phiscal contact, the commerical cuts to a couple dancing while they're supposively using the product. Adults know what the message is, children do not...aka a socially responsible ad!



This next commercial for Trojan condoms, created by Trojan's New York based advertising agency of choice, Kaplan Thaler Group, has been banned from FOX & CBS because it's not "appropriate for television". However, I have to disagree. If condoms aren't advertised, they are not going to be used as much. By associating men who do not use condoms with pigs, women will realize that men worth dating will use condoms to ensure their safety and to prevent unwanted pregnancy. There is nothing sexual in this commerical, making it appropriate for showing on TV. I've seen Victoria's Secret commericals WAY worse than this!


This Truth ad created by Arnold & Crispin Porter + Bogusky is socially responsible because it is showing society the effects of smoking, rather than just telling everyone smoking kills. The spot is titled "You Don't Always Die From Tobacco" and it strikes a chord with the audience and makes them realize that even if you don't die from lung/esophigeal cancer, you may still be negatively effected by smoking. Smoking kills hundres of thousands of people a year. By showing ads like this that put fear/awareness into the minds of society, hopefully the tobacco death rate will decrease.

AMV/BBDO (London)

AMV/BBDO (HQ in London) has recently launched a new 70 second cinema ad for the magazine The Economist called ‘Red Wires’. It was created by Sonny Adorjan and Milo Campbell and directed by Tom Carty. The purpose of this ad is to mark the change in both the strategic and creative direction from white-out-of-red, AMV’s long-running and multi award-winning poster campaign. The ad shows a wire walker jumping between different red wires across the city and ends with the line 'Let your mind wander'. Each wire supposedly represents a different thought which has been inspired from reading The Economist. Even more interestingly, his journey is a metaphor for the pleasure of interconnecting different ideas. I love this advertisement because just like The Economist, it is creative, mind-teasing, and intelligent. Just because The Economist is changing its campaign, does not mean The Economist is changing its core values or the intellectually stimulating material inside the pages.

Venables, Bell & Partners (San Francisco)

I don't care WHAT you were doing during the commercials at the Super Bowl...there is no valid excuse to have missed San Francisco based ad agency Venables, Bell & Partners' Super Bowl Commercial for Audi. The commercial called "Green Car" aired in the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XLIV and was the second most viewed commercial during the Super Bowl with 115.6 MM viewers making it the second most watched commercial in U.S. HISTORY. Audi rose to the top and beat out all the other car companies competing for attention during the game and ranked 6th in the USA Today Ad Meter and 1st in the Wall Street Journal poll. Not only were people floored by this commercial DURING the Super Bowl, they continued to be amazed by it afterwards. From this commercial, Audi gained almost 3 billion media impressions, including coverage of the spots on The Today Show, CNBC, andThe CBS Early Show. This commercial is both hilarious AND socially responsible because it is promoting being green by showing us all the things we shouldn't be doing (i.e. putting out hot tub to 105 degrees, using plastic water bottles, etc.). Audi/Venables, Bell & Partners poke fun at all the non-environmentally friendly things we do on a daily basis and shows us one thing was CAN do right...and that's drive an Audi!

Special Blog: Coming together to make something special

For this assigned blog, I was asked to find 3 spots where lots of things come together to make something special. I believe that the 3 spots I have chosen below encompass exactly that.

The first commerical is one for Sony Bravia created by Fallon London and is filled with hundreds of multi-colored bunnies bouncing around New York. The play-doh rabbits hop to a central point where they turn into an enormous purple wave. The wave then turns into a sea before a whale's tail emerges, which then turns into the biggest red rabbit in the history of the world!

The second commercial that I chose is called "Feel the bubbles" and was created by JWT advertising (HQ in NYC) for their famous client, Nestle and its newest chocolaty concoction of a crunch bar called "Aero". The commercial shows pro skater Bob Burnquist skating a course with thousands of chocolate balloons, meant to resemble chocolate chips. The chocolate balloons form a "bowl" and other obstacles for the skater to skate on and in.

The third commercial that I chose, titled "Sea of skin", was created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), New York for Vaseline. The commercial celebrates human skin by using choreographed naked human bodies of all different races. The Sea of Skin spot begins with landscapes alongside close-ups of human skin. We’re finally introduced to people curled up on the floors of boats....the camera zooms out and the people floating in boats in the giant river begin to take on the form of cells in the blood stream. The masses of actors throw their hands in the air and cross their arms to symbolize them, as the cells, protecting skin from harmful substances.